Leading UK browser business Deepnet Explorer was the first to offer protection from phishing scams with the launch of its latest version 1.3 on Dec 1, 2004. The new browser's unique "Phishing Alarm" system alerts surfers automatically if ever they find themselves surfing sites identified as illegitimate by the Deepnet Phishing Alarm system.

"Phishing is about to become the number one weak spot in online security. About 750 million phishing e-mails will be sent between Thanksgiving and Christmas, according to MailFrontier. Already the financial institutions in the UK alone have had to refund around £4.5m to some 2,000 customers, according to the Association for Payment Clearing Services (Apacs)" said Deepnet's Yurong Lin." Now, as big business toughens up and becomes less sympathetic to phishing victims, consumers need to do more to protect themselves from corruption in e-commerce.

Phishing sites are usually doctored versions of an organisation's legitimate Web site. Victims are often lured to the sites using sophisticated emails and many are fooled into disclosing online passwords, user names and other personal information.

Surfers targeted by phishing scams will automatically be alerted via the internet's first ever cyber "Phishing Alarm" which is a new feature in the latest version of Deepnet Explorer (1.3). With cyber criminals consistently inventing new ways to dupe surfers, Deepnet Explorer promises maximum protection against the fastest moving threat on the internet. “Phishing Alarm” works by using both a blacklist of known phishing sites and by analysing the URLs and Web sites. For example, it will be able to detect insecure Web sites that are forged to look secure used in some phishing scams”, says Lin.

The Deepnet Explorer browser has already attracted considerable interest since it released its first browser in June, according to Lin. He said it is currently experiencing over 2,000 downloads per day, and is talking to various companies to work on partnerships which will generate revenue for the company.